We often categorize literature by its nation of origin when we study and teach, though we also recognize the limitations involved in doing so. Over the past several decades, the study of U.S. literature, in particular, has been shaped by transnational and global approaches that emphasize the porous nature of any “national” literature. In this course, students will study approaches to American Literature in global contexts. These may include hemispheric approaches to U.S. literatures that emphasize U.S. interactions with Central America and the Caribbean, engagements with Africa in U.S. literatures, or U.S. literatures and the Pacific from the eighteenth century through the present.